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HOCKEY; Messier Skates and Negotiates

Mark Messier, whose season was cut short by shoulder surgery, has not signed a contract with the Rangers, but he was cleared by team doctors yesterday and skated with some of his teammates at their old practice facility in Rye, N.Y.

''He's fine,'' Glen Sather, the Rangers' president and general manager, said.

Asked whether the informal skating session had a bearing on the Messier family's contract negotiations with Sather, a person close to Messier said: ''You can probably assume something will be done soon. Mark wants to help the Rangers. He wants to make sure he's ready to go. That's why he's going to go through extra skating this year, more than he's done in the past.''

The 41-year-old Messier, the Rangers' captain, appeared in 41 games last season, the fewest in his 23 N.H.L. seasons; he played all 82 games the previous season. After helping lead the Rangers into contention for the best record in the Eastern Conference over the first half of last season, Messier missed 34 of the Rangers' final 39 games, including the last 22.

Coupled with debilitating injuries to Eric Lindros and Mike Richter, the Rangers plummeted in the standing in the second half of the season and missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, equaling the franchise mark for futility.

The sides have been talking about a one-year deal for Messier, who has scored 1,804 career points in 1,602 games. Messier needs 46 more points to tie Gordie Howe for second-most in N.H.L. history behind Wayne Gretzky.